"I’m really interested in calibrating the body," O’friel said. "The corset monitors carbon dioxide levels in the environment and provides physical feedback by tightening the bodice in relation to air quality."

It’s an apt metaphor for what climate scientists are saying about how life is going to be unless we get CO2 emissions under control.

As James Hansen’s team recently wrote in the journal Science, "If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 385 ppm to at most 350 ppm."

But no metaphor is perfect: O’friel’s teacher, Despina Papadopoulos, insisted that she install a safety valve in the corset, and so far, we haven’t found one of those for the planet’s climate.